Gejje Pooje is a 1969 Kannada movie by Puttanna Kanagal

Puttanna Kanagal

Puttanna Kanagal was one of the most prominent Kannada film directors of the 1960s and the 70s. Although the majority of his films were on offbeat or taboo subjects, he endeared himself to both the critics and ordinary film goers alike. He also directed a handful Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and...

 starring Kalpana

Kalpana (Kannada actress)

Kalpana was a very popular Kannada cinema actress. Her epithet was Minugu taare . A versatile actress, she dominated the Kannada film industry during the late 1960s and 1970s and was critically acclaimed for her roles in movies like Sharapanjara, Gejje Pooje, Belli moda, Eradu Kanasu, Kappu Bilupu,...

, Gangadhar

Gangadhar (Kannada actor)

Gangadhar was an Indian actor in the Kannada film industry. He had acted in over 80 films such as Sharapanjara and many others.-Career:Gangadhar studied Diploma in Mechanical and HAL. In HAL, he staged plays like Samsare Nauke, HM Nayaka and Vijayotsava. He met G.V.Iyer and was selected for...

 and Leelavathi

Leelavathi (actress)

Leelavathi is a Kannada film actress who predominantly worked in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu. She has acted with legends such as Rajkumar, M. G. Ramachandran, N. T. Rama Rao, Sivaji Ganeshan, Shankar Nag, Kamal Hassan, Vishnuvardhan, Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi and various popular artists in her films...

. Gejje means anklet

Anklet

An anklet, also called ankle chain or ankle bracelet, is an ornament worn around the ankle. Barefoot anklets and toe rings historically have been worn for centuries by girls and women in India. In the United States both casual and more formal anklets became fashionable in the late twentieth century...

 and pooje means worship but in this context it means a mock marriage.

Plot

This socially relevant movie explores the problem of prostitutes also known as devadasi

Devadasi

In Hinduism, the devadasi tradition is a religious tradition in which girls are "married" and dedicated to a deity or to a temple and includes performance aspects such as those that take place in the temple as well as in the courtly and mujuvani [telegu] or home context. Dance and music were...

s. It was based on the eponymous novel written by M. K. Indira

M. K. Indira

M. K. Indira was a well known novelist in the Kannada language. She has written novels like Phaniyamma which has won many awards. She started writing novels only after her age of forty-five....

. The heroine Chandra ( played by Kalpana) is the daughter of a devadasi is in love with a young man who is her neighbour. The young girl understands the value of education and with the support of her mother intends to reject the life of prostitution. Circumstances and the young man's suspicion makes him abandon the heroine.
Ironically the girl he marries is the daughter of the heroine's father who had abandoned both her and her mother. Chandra agrees to perform gejjepooje as part of initiation into a life of prostitution but in the end she commits suicide by swallowing a diamond.

Cast

• Kalpana
  Kalpana (Kannada actress)
  Kalpana was a very popular Kannada cinema actress. Her epithet was Minugu taare . A versatile actress, she dominated the Kannada film industry during the late 1960s and 1970s and was critically acclaimed for her roles in movies like Sharapanjara, Gejje Pooje, Belli moda, Eradu Kanasu, Kappu Bilupu,...
  
   as Chandra
• Gangadhar
  Gangadhar (Kannada actor)
  Gangadhar was an Indian actor in the Kannada film industry. He had acted in over 80 films such as Sharapanjara and many others.-Career:Gangadhar studied Diploma in Mechanical and HAL. In HAL, he staged plays like Samsare Nauke, HM Nayaka and Vijayotsava. He met G.V.Iyer and was selected for...
  
  
• Leelavathi
  Leelavathi (actress)
  Leelavathi is a Kannada film actress who predominantly worked in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu. She has acted with legends such as Rajkumar, M. G. Ramachandran, N. T. Rama Rao, Sivaji Ganeshan, Shankar Nag, Kamal Hassan, Vishnuvardhan, Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi and various popular artists in her films...
  
   as Aparna
• Arathi as Lalita

Soundtrack

Title	Singers	Lyrics
Gaganavo Yello	S. Janaki S. Janaki S. Janaki is an Indian female playback singer. Renowned for her voice modulation abilities, she has sung in many Indian languages, most frequently in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. Throughout a career spanning more than five decades, she has won four National Film Awards and 35...	R. N. Jayagopal R. N. Jayagopal R. N. Jayagopal was an Indian lyricist of the Kannada film industry who wrote over 12000 film songs.-Death:He died on 19 May 2008 at the age of 72 following a cardiac arrest...
Hejje Hejjegu Honne Suriyali	S. Janaki S. Janaki S. Janaki is an Indian female playback singer. Renowned for her voice modulation abilities, she has sung in many Indian languages, most frequently in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. Throughout a career spanning more than five decades, she has won four National Film Awards and 35...	Chi Udayashankar
Maguve Ninna hoonagu	S. Janaki S. Janaki S. Janaki is an Indian female playback singer. Renowned for her voice modulation abilities, she has sung in many Indian languages, most frequently in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. Throughout a career spanning more than five decades, she has won four National Film Awards and 35...	Vijaya Narasimha
Ondu Dina Ratriyali	BK. Sumithra	R. N. Jayagopal R. N. Jayagopal R. N. Jayagopal was an Indian lyricist of the Kannada film industry who wrote over 12000 film songs.-Death:He died on 19 May 2008 at the age of 72 following a cardiac arrest...
Panchama Veda Premada Naada	P. B. Sreenivas	Vijaya Narasimha

External links

• http://www.raaga.com/channels/kannada/moviedetail.asp?mid=k0000727